Thursday, July 2, 2009

Finally - A Low HR Run!

This morning's plan was an easy 3 miler - on my usual lake loop route. I was going to leave the iPod at home and focus on keeping my pace slow and my HR under 150 as much as I could.

The plan worked!

When I first stepped out the door, I had my doubts - my HR was registering in the low 90s (it is usually in the low 70s when I step out the door...the mid to low 60s when I'm sitting down resting). I had gone out for a few beers with a neighbor last night, after the kids were in bed - so, it was a later night than usual, I got less sleep, my sleep was not at deep due to the alcohol, and I think I even felt a bit of dehydration when I woke up (not really a hangover, per se, but a little on the dry mouth side).

I started running at a slow pace - I wasn't sure how slow, but I checked in with my HR and kept it under 150 for most of that first mile. When my Garmin chirped for mile 1, I looked down and saw my pace was 11:30. Wow, that was slow. However, my average HR was 142. I knew this is where I needed to be.

During mile number 2, I saw a turtle crawling towards the woods. Very appropriate for this morning's run. I see tons of bunny rabbits hopping along in my neighborhood, but today was about slow and steady - and Mr. Turtle was there to remind me. Mile 2 chirped and pace was 11:04 with an average HR of 149.

I know that on the way back home there are a few hills. As I started the ascent, I reminded myself to slow down. I wanted to keep this a slow and steady run - even if the pace was pedestrian. I'm sure my thoughts wandered along the way, as my Garmin shows that I hit a max HR somewhere in there of 164 - but my average HR on that last mile was 152 - and at a 10:36/mile pace. For mile 3 to be 30 seconds faster and only 3 bpm higher on the average HR - I'm not going to be too hard on myself for going over 150 bpm.

Overall, the 3.2 miles took 35:15 - an 11:02/mile pace with my average HR at 148. I can't remember the last run where my average HR was under 150...so even though the pace was slow, I will take it!